


Revive

by vmprsm



Series: Kylux Virus AU [4]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Blood and Injury, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Murder, No Smut, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 06:58:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19458766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vmprsm/pseuds/vmprsm
Summary: Set after the epilogue of I.s. and directly after 'Oh Glory', Kylo and Hux try to find a monster, but Kylo's monstrous past finds him instead.THE ACTUAL END OF THE VIRUS AU SERIES. FOR REAL. I'M DONE NOW.





	Revive

**Author's Note:**

> Other tags that ao3 wasn't letting me use: just love and fear in equal measure, two monsters in love, virus au, phasma is a badass, hux makes bad choices, fear the knights of ren, where the heck did the tfa fandom go

The police hadn’t been able to find him.

_ “Philip,” _ Hux had hissed at his phone, open to the most recent email from the Maryland state troopers, detailing their efforts to find Malind-positive Philip Harrington, ex-boyfriend of Maria Gonzalez-Moreno,  _ “where are you?” _

For a new monster, Philip had been smart. He was already gone when the police showed up to his apartment: drawers ransacked, personal safe empty. Maria’s jewelry was gone, and so was the 9mm handgun that Philip had supposedly kept for protection. He would need the protection, Kylo had groused, smoothing the hair from Maria’s sweaty forehead. He would need every advantage.

-

“Calm down, Hux,” Kylo soothed after Hux had thrown his smartphone into a wall. It had been  _ three weeks _ , and Philip was a ghost. 

“Do not tell me to calm down!” Hux shouted at him, pacing the room like an animal. “He’s  _ gone _ ! He’s probably halfway across the damn country by now! We said we’d get him, Kylo. We promised.”

Kylo halted his lover’s pacing by the doorway, taking him into his arms despite Hux’s stiff posture at the gesture. He dropped a kiss on his cheekbone. “And we aren’t yet out of options. We’ve been waiting on bureaucracy, which I supported for the starting search, but we knew there was a good chance he’d run. None of this is out of our control yet.”

“I just….augh.” Hux fluttered his hands anxiously, patting at Kylo to let him go. He did, reluctant in his body language, but Hux still swept past him and down the hall towards the kitchen.

Kylo wandered over to the smartphone lying on the hardwood, picking it up and wincing at the crack in the screen cover. They had a warranty (they put a warranty or protective casing on everything, given their natures) on the little glass sheet, but it was a pain in the ass to exchange, and Hux was going to be annoyed every time he looked at it until it was fixed. 

It was still easy to read the email Hux had received. The report from the state was entirely unhelpful. No hits on Crimestoppers, the APB wasn’t turning up anything, no results on traffic cams or store cams, no usage of Philip’s credit cards or bank accounts, or Maria’s, and no cell phone usage. He was a crafty bastard, that much Kylo could give him. But it wouldn’t stop them. Kylo had dealt with his share of scumbags. 

He took the phone with him into the kitchen, to find Hux sipping delicately on a bourbon. The bottle was next to him, but Kylo didn’t bother to read it. He didn’t drink, so he would have no idea what he was looking at. “Hux,” he started.

Hux held up a hand, and tossed back the last of his drink with the other. His face was like stone, he made no expression to say if it was good or bad. “Continue.”

Kylo frowned, but did so. “As I was saying, we should probably be looking a little outside the law now. We can contact the Malind network, I’m sure several hundred odd people keeping an eye out could be helpful. I can go to my people. You could…” he hesitated, bracing himself for the blowback, “ask your father?”

Said blowback was immediate. “My _father?_ ” Hux asked, incredulous. “Do you think I have him on speed dial? Oh, daddy, please help me find this bad man after you got me off a _murder charge_ and _paid for my medical bills_ and _completely disapprove of my lifestyle._ ”

By the end of his little rant, Hux was screeching, and Kylo winced. “I just figured, given his past influence, he was able to pull some strings we couldn’t.”

Hux laughed bitterly. “The only strings he would want to pull for me nowadays would be ones around my neck. He’s practically disowned me for my transgressions, thankfully I’m successful on my own. I’d never wanted to be father’s pet anyways.”

“Okay...okay.” Kylo muttered, looking away. “I wouldn’t want to ask my family, either. I didn’t know it was that bad.”

He heard the sigh. “I know you didn’t. I assumed you’d inferred it, which was my mistake.” 

There was an awkward silence, broken by the ding of Hux’s phone. Kylo looked down at the device in his palm. It was just a message from Johns Hopkins, asking if Hux was going to be in this evening for the seminar with the newest medical residents. He’d excused himself from his morning class pleading a headache and no one was going to argue with the Malind positive genius. 

“Give me that,” Hux held his hand out, and scowled at the screen before typing a quick response. He sighed again. “The Malind network isn’t a bad idea, but I’m not holding much hope. Many of those people don’t even leave their houses. What’s your network?”

“I’ve got people all over, from my business and just...friends.”

“You don’t have friends.”

“Okay, associates. We had mutual interests.”

“What could they do?”

Kylo leaned his elbows on the bar, leaning forward. “The internet savvy ones can hack into all his accounts, see the IP’s of those he’s used most recently. We could maybe get an idea of where he’s been. The street savvy, they can just keep an eye out, ask around. Most of those were in Boston, but they may have moved.”

“I thought you had friends in Malind circles.”

“I did.” Kylo said firmly. “Not anymore.”

Hux raised an eyebrow at the finality of that statement, but didn’t pry. They still both had their secrets, despite seeing and knowing the worst of each other. 

“It’s all a start, but if we let him run too long he may just leave the country.” 

“Leave the country,” Kylo repeated, slowing with a pensive look on his face.

Waiting patiently, Hux poured himself another drink.

“I think I know who we can talk to.”

Up like a shot, Kylo hustled out of the room. There was a shuffling in their bedroom, and he came back with something small and rectangular in his hand.

The business card was silvery, the shiny kind that shot rainbows in direct light. It had nothing on it but a number. 

Kylo slid it over the countertop, and Hux gave it a raised eyebrow. “What is this?”

“I found this in my wallet a couple months after we were released from the hospital. Things had been so busy, I didn’t notice until then. I  _ believe _ that Chromia left it there while we were unconscious.”

“Why would a woman who isn’t supposed to exist leave you her business card?”

Shrugging, Kylo took Hux’s glass and moved it around in circles with a finger on the inside of the rim. The swirling of the coppery liquid inside was pretty under the spotlights of the bar. 

Hux picked up the card, scrutinized it, and put it back down like it might be contagious. “I’m not sure this is the way we want to go. She’s involved in more that we know, and she might not take kindly to vigilantism.”

“That’s practically her job, isn’t it?”

“ _ Her  _ job. What if she takes this from us? Does it her way?”

“Do you want it done at all or not?”

There was a long moment while Hux considered. Finally, he picked up the card again. “I suppose you’re right.”

-

The little coffee shop on the corner made the whole clandestine meeting feel far too much like a TV drama. It didn’t help that they had bundled up like it wasn’t seventy degrees outside. Kylo pulled at the beanie on his head irritably. “This is going to ruin my hair.”

“Hush,” Hux admonished as they stepped inside, speaking through the face mask over his nose and mouth, “you’re already too recognizable. I couldn’t do anything about the scars on your face, so don’t take off the sunglasses either.”

Hux had stubbornly refused to do anything about his hair, despite Kylo being gleefully for the temporary hair dye route. Instead he had the hood pulled up on Kylo’s ratty hoodie, and the mask over his face made him feel like a stereotypical Asian commuter. 

It was entirely necessary for them to hide their identity like a couple of celebrities, in Hux’s opinion, as they had been all over the news just a couple years ago, and they were still regularly touring the states. Since the spike in infection rates, Hux was practically the go-to for Malind, and he was nearly a household name. He wasn’t going to risk being interrupted or listened in on in such a delicate situation. 

Captain Phasma, however, didn’t seem to have any concerns.

She was already seated at a table in the corner, sunlight streaming onto her platinum hair and bringing out the subtle green in the pattern of her dark suit. She was sipping on a black coffee, sunglasses set casually to the side of her cell phone. There were two chairs set out for them on the other side of the square table. 

They slid into their seats, and Phasma’s face twisted into an amused grin. “Are you going to rob me?”

“What? No.” Hux replied, surprised.

“With the outfits, I wasn’t sure.” She laughed, then sobered. “What can I do for you gentlemen?”

This woman, though just as sharply dressed, was a far cry from the woman they had interacted with in Frederick. She was so utterly at ease, but still clearly aware of every movement, in a way that Hux knew he and Kylo would never accomplish. 

Their phone conversation had been short. 

_ “Chromia.” _

_ “This is Kylo Ren, you left me your card.” _

_ “Yes?” _

_ “We have a situation, we’d like your expertise regarding it.” _

_ “Advice, or action?” _

_ “We’re not sure yet.” _

_ “Mhm. How about we meet?” _

Now she was here, and Hux took a large breath. He explained everything, the steps they had taken, and what responses they had received. Phasma seemed unimpressed. 

“Unfortunately, it’s a story I’ve heard before,” Phasma pursed her lips, thinking, “I left you that card in case you had some real trouble, but the contract we had you sign wasn’t a fair deal, if I can be candid. You did far more than you got back. I’ll make this a one-time favor, to make us even. I’ll find him, and you can do what you want after that. As for the card, call me again only if you really need it. Legal trouble, life-or-death, got it?”

Kylo nodded, and Hux stared at her for a long moment before doing the same.

“Do you want my opinion?” Phasma asked as she stood from her seat, gathering her things and dropping some coins on the table. 

“Yes.” Kylo said before Hux could open his mouth.

“I know you want to bring him to justice, but our kind don’t need ones like him. Take from that what you will. You’ll get an email when I find something.”

She sauntered out of the shop, and once the door closed behind her Hux realized he never gave her an email address. 

-

  
  


Driving down to Richmond, Virginia was uncomfortable and quiet. Hux stared out of the passenger window as Kylo drove, flipping his phone around in his hand as his knee bounced up and down. 

Captain Phasma had sent them the address of where Philip was hiding not an hour earlier, only three days after their meeting, from one of those ten-minute email addresses.  _ Hurry, _ she had said,  _ he’s been moving.  _

They got into their SUV without pause, and on the road immediately for the two-hour drive. Kylo didn’t even think until they were an hour in, but Hux’s silence was starting to rub him the wrong way.

“Hux,” he started carefully, “I know I’m not the one to usually say this, but are you going to call the Richmond police before we get there?”

“No.”

“Are you going to call them at all?”

“If he’s really there. Otherwise it’s a waste, and we have to explain how we knew his location when no one else did. Besides, we have the car if there’s any problems.”

Hux’s voice was deadpan, closed off from Kylo. Pressing would just set him off and Kylo knew he was already on edge. 

They reached the address with no delay: a little house, almost a shack, out in a low-income residential area on the outskirts of the city. The grass in the yard went up to their knees, having parked the car just down the road at a condemned house. This house seemed to be on the same route, as several windows were boarded up and the paint was peeling off the walls. A bird screeched overhead as they approached from the edge of the property, where the trees gave them some cover. Kylo took the lead, having arguably the most experience with...whatever it was they were doing. The plan was to just identify that he was there and call the police, along with the Malind Response Team. Sweat beads rolled down the back of their necks and into their shirts with the disgusting mid-afternoon humidity. 

They had to go around to the back of the house to find a window that was clear enough (and not covered) to see through, and though they peered through it carefully, they couldn’t see anyone inside. It was just a bedroom, but the bed looked slept-in. The door was open into the rest of the small house, but the tiny hallway was dark. The windows themselves were the old swing-out kind, and they weren’t locked, as Hux easily pulled it open.

“Boost me up.”

“What?” 

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” Hux whispered, “I’m going inside if that weren’t obvious.”

“But why?”

“What do you mean why? We need to know if he’s here.” 

Kylo crossed his arms. “We have other windows to check. We have no idea what’s in there. Might as well try them first, and then maybe the back door? We could also make a plan to knock and say our car broke down--Hux, wait--”

Kylo was left floundering as Hux decided to forego Kylo’s assistance, instead using his own not-inconsiderable arm strength to haul himself into the window. “Hux,” he hissed as Hux landed silently on the bed under the sill. 

“Just be ready to call.” Hux replied. His stance was tight, almost predatory, and he didn’t look back at Kylo. It wasn’t like Hux to go off half-cocked, unless he was really upset or angry. Kylo had a sinking feeling in his stomach. 

He watched in dismay as Hux stepped carefully out of his sight, knowing he wouldn’t fit through the window even if he tried. His broad shoulders wouldn’t allow it without help so he could angle and wiggle. He set off for the backdoor, his heart beginning to race. When his hand landed on the oxidized knob he took a couple deep breaths, trying to remain calm enough not to trigger. He could do this, he and the gift were one. 

In the middle of his third breath, there was a crash inside, a shout, and Kylo yanked the door so hard that the lock ripped out of the rotting wood. He raced into the house with no thought for his safety, and skidded to a stop in the kitchen.

Hux’s back was to him, but the uncontrolled twitching of his limbs and head was a dead giveaway. How he had managed to trigger so fast was a mystery, but Kylo had to very deliberately control his breathing in response, hoping against hope that he could hold out despite one of the most beautiful things before his eyes. He had never seen Hux triggered when he wasn’t as well, and it was a gorgeous sight. 

Kylo mentally shook himself. Whether this was a dream come true or not, it was a very bad thing to be happening right now. 

Quick stock of the room revealed this: a young man, plastered in the corner against the cabinets and counter, a shattered plate on the floor. The young man, presumably Philip as he matched the description and the photo Maria had shown them from her phone, was breathing rapidly, and his eyes were dilating. 

Shit.

He couldn’t stop them both, and it was very likely that he would trigger if he tried. Hux and he hadn’t had an episode, apart or together, since Frederick, and there was no way to know if the strange camaraderie they shared then would occur again. They may just all end up killing each other. 

“Philip,” he yelled, “run into the next room!”

The issue with those in an episode is they were unholy fast. Their bodies had one thing pushing them: the desire to attack, to pass on the virus or remove the threat to it. They barely felt pain, so even though they were going through waves of it from their seizing muscles, they were able to get past it and move ruthlessly, bite hard, and tear with all the strength they would normally inhibit subconsciously. Those in an episode had what they called ‘hysterical strength’ or, maybe more accurately, ‘excited delirium’. They didn’t take time to think through options, they simply reacted to stimuli. That meant that even though Hux’s legs could hardly bend if he were self-aware, he was instead able to spring over the small island, vaulting across the space to tackle Philip as he attempted to run. The young man had hesitated for just a moment after Kylo’s command, and it had made all the difference. 

“Christ,” Kylo spat, swallowing hard and trying to breathe as Hux landed squarely on top of the other man, grabbing his wrists as he flailed. It was the work of a second, not enough time for Kylo to even move towards them, and then Hux was tearing at Philip’s throat with his teeth, the ensuing blood spray arcing and splashing across the side of the island. One bite and the common carotid artery was gone, torn in two. 

“Fuck,” Kylo said, and ran back into the bedroom. He looked around wildly, looking for something to restrain his lover with, something strong enough to hold him. He would have to get them back to the car, there was no other way.

He grabbed a tie from the back of the desk chair, blue and purple striped, and a long thick sock from the floor. He almost slipped on the blood on his way back to Hux, landing on his knees behind him. With a practiced motion, Kylo reached around and grabbed Hux by the forearms, ripping him away from Philip and then pressing him forward onto the dirty wood flooring. Hux roared and snapped, cheek pressed down to create a chipmunk-ish expression, and he pushed back against his captor. 

Kylo was almost unseated, but he had expected the motion, and used it to lift Hux up and slam him back down. “Don’t fight me, baby,” he huffed, taking the tie and quickly wrapping it around Hux’s wrists. It was a tight knot, and Hux’s wrists flexed and pulled futilely against the stretchless fabric. In between one of Hux’s snaps, he shoved the sock in his mouth. Hux’s teeth scraped his knuckles as he pushed the sock further in, but drew no blood. Hux roared again, muffled now, and Kylo shushed him as one would a child. Kylo’s knees sat firmly in the hollow of Hux’s and he leaned forward to brush Hux’s wild hair back from his face. “Shh, I got you. We’re going to get out of here. I got you.”

Kylo paused, reaching into his pants and adjusting his cock. It was hard in morbid excitement, and the thundering in his ears was dangerous. Hux looked at him with wide, black, empty eyes, and Kylo swallowed again. Now was not the time to be thinking of fucking his feral lover. Even so, he pressed his hips against Hux’s ass for a long moment, sighed shakily, and then hauled them both off the ground. 

The way back to the car was difficult with Hux trying to trip him with his flailing legs on every step. Halfway there, Kylo threw him into a fireman’s carry and sprinted. The episode would hopefully start fading off soon, the energy running steadily out of Hux’s body, but they’d both held an episode for at least fifteen minutes together, and that was fighting for their lives, so it was sort of an unknown variable. The sock was doing a great job of muffling his angry noises; still Kylo was looking all around them to make sure no one was watching.

At the car, he put Hux down and pressed him face first into the side of the vehicle as he rummaged the keys out of his own pocket. The blood on Hux’s face smeared across the black door. The back of the SUV sprung open just as it had been made to, and Kylo bodily lifted Hux and dropped him into the back. The restraints clicked onto Hux’s upper arms easily, the AC unit roared to life, and Kylo scrambled to close the door. Once inside, the low-light strips were just enough to see by so Kylo could pull the tranquilizer gun out of the floor. 

“Come on, Hux, calm down.” Kylo pleaded, watching Hux’s face twitch and contort like a demon’s in the dim light. “I don’t want to shoot you, but you gotta calm down. It’s me.”

By god, he was so beautiful. Despite his better judgement, his heart racing like a rabbit’s, Kylo reached forward and took the sock out of Hux’s mouth. As soon as it was out, Hux lunged forward and snapped, catching the edge of Kylo’s hand between his incisors. Kylo sucked in a pained breath. Hux’s jaws were like a vice grip, and blood dripped onto the padded floor. 

“You know that does no good,” Kylo said quietly, fervently pushing down his own monster as the pain lit up his brain. He was losing. “I’m already like you.” 

He let Hux hold onto his hand, as he seemed to be making no motion to let it go. With the other hand he pulled out his cell and called the Captain. It rang once before she picked up.

“Seeing as you’re calling me, I’m assuming you really needed to.” She sounded mildly annoyed. 

“We found him where you said,” Kylo said, his breath thready, “but it got out of hand.” 

There was a pause. “How out of hand, exactly?”

“A lot. Please, help us. I can’t...I can’t hold back anymore. We’re in our car, down the block.” 

Hux’s jaws pulsed slightly, shooting pain up Kylo’s arm. He gasped, his vision going fuzzy. “The code to the driver’s door is 91354. It’s a keyless start. Don’t open the back.”

He dropped the phone, and picked up the tranq gun. With a pull of the trigger, a dart buried itself into Hux’s thigh. Hux let go of his hand with a jerk and Kylo backed away, crablike, throwing his arm onto the wall so he could close one restraint around it. Kylo stared into Hux’s depthless eyes as consciousness faded away. 

-

Hux swam slowly to consciousness, becoming gradually aware of the ticking clock on the wall, the sound of summer rain on the window, and the murmur of hushed bickering voices. 

He reached up, touching his lips gently and finding them clean, if not a bit dry. The rest of his face seemed similarly undamaged, but the effort of holding his arms up for so long was tiring. Maybe he should go back to sleep for a bit. This was the calmest he had felt in a long time. The voices weren’t registering as anything important: maybe the television in the next room, or a talk show on the radio. 

He floated within his mind for a while, content to stay on the edge of wakefulness, until one voice got louder, and Hux could make out the words.

_ “If the police have the body, what can you do?” _

That was worth his attention. As he struggled to sit up, fuzzy, distorted memories began to flood his mind. The smell of blood, flashes of floor and pressure, a high scream; his jaw and fingers ached. Oh god.

_ Oh no. _

Hux went to stand and stumbled as his feet hit the floor. Oh he’d definitely triggered. What a moron! At least he'd had the chip taken out. He pushed the door open with his shoulder, and made his shaky way into the living room of their house. He’d been sleeping in their bedroom, but Kylo wasn’t there. He could hear his lover’s voice, however, and followed it to the far corner of the living room where Kylo sat, swaddled in a plush black blanket on their comfiest recliner with a phone on his lap, on speaker. 

“...don’t you think--” Kylo cut off abruptly when he caught sight of Hux’s bare feet on the plush carpet. His gaze snapped from the phone to Hux’s face, shocked. “You should be in bed!”

“Me? You look like a nursing home resident.”

Kylo had the audacity to scoff, despite the bags under his eyes and the roughness of his voice. “I’m fine. I’m...working on things.”

_ “Hux, this is Phasma,”  _ the voice came from the phone,  _ “Kylo and I were discussing the predicament you’ve found yourself in. Do you remember what happened?” _

Kylo scowled at the phone, but Hux ignored him. “I do, somewhat. I can extrapolate. But what happened after I lost consciousness?”

_ “I sent some people to your location as fast as I could, after Kylo called me, and we got to your SUV in time to leave the area. You were both insensate in the back. However, someone heard the screams, and the police were called. They found the body. So, once again, you are asking for my help.” _

Hux glanced at Kylo, eyebrows raised with some effort. “We are?”

_ “You are. I can’t allow others of our kind to be put on trial for something like this. They’ve already identified that he was murdered by another of us. But there’s no evidence to point to you, yet. The initial theory is that he was meeting an accomplice. You’ll need help to cover your tracks. This is all over the news already. Afflicted don’t get killed every day, we’re the apex hunter.” _

She sounded ready to continue, but Kylo cut her off. “It’s on the news? What’s on the news?”

_ “Including the details of the investigation regarding Maria, and your involvement. This could get messy if we don’t start controlling it now.” _

Kylo abruptly stood out of the chair, the footrest slamming back into place and the phone hitting the floor before Hux could catch it. 

“Kylo?” Hux asked, watching the other man’s face as the blood drained from it like an etch-a-sketch and he went white. 

_ “I wouldn’t worry  _ **_that_ ** _ much,’  _ said Phasma’s tinny voice from the floor,  _ I have resources, I just need your approval.” _

Kylo stared at the opposite wall, seeming very far away. “It doesn’t matter,” he muttered. 

Hux’s expression turned from concerned to puzzled. “It very much does.”

“It doesn’t. It’s too late.” He swayed slightly in place, just for a moment, before strength seemed to return to his limbs all at once, and he rushed out of the room. Hux, with ginger effort, bent at the hips and scooped the phone from the grey carpet. Undamaged, thankfully.

“You have my go-ahead.” Hux paused a moment. “Thank you.”

_ “I’d say anytime but I hope this will truly be the last.” _ Phasma replied, then ended the call.

Hux rolled his eyes. It wasn’t as if he was having fun with this whole mess either. With the call disconnected, the phone went back to the home screen, showing he’d been asleep for just under sixteen hours. No wonder he was still a wreck. But it was good they had awoken, the news would have played the story on loop at least eight times by now, damage control would need to be swift and organized before they ended up locked in a  _ different _ kind of car. 

It wasn’t Hux’s first kill, not by a long shot. Not since Frederick. It probably wouldn’t be his last. But he seemed to be developing a pattern: losing control. In essence, that’s what the virus was, it made you lose control, but in his case he wasn’t triggered by heat or panic or overstimulation--just rage. He was fairly sure he couldn’t force an episode even if he wanted to, his acceptable range very wide and so firmly set in his physiology. It was so unlike Kylo, who could shake apart on the slightest whim, but didn’t when it was important. 

Kylo...had he triggered? Evidence pointed to yes, but why? Hux could assume he personally had lost it when he saw Philip, but Kylo had no such compulsion, no simmering, irrational anger over Maria’s misfortune. He saw the injustice, but there was no personal connection. 

It would have been helpful if Hux remembered what happened, but memories from an episode were hazy and disjointed at best, and entirely absent at worst. Hux was hovering somewhere inbetween. Kylo would likely have more, if he could stop acting like a drama queen.

Making his way back through the house, he glanced into the kitchen and the study, finding them both empty. As he entered the hallway, the bathroom door was open. Finally re-entering their bedroom, he found Kylo sitting on the floor, a suitcase beside him halfway filled with clothes in no particular order or organization. Hux’s phone was abandoned on the floor next to his crossed legs. Kylo was currently pawing through their underwear drawer, pulling out handfuls and tossing them onto the bed to get to the important documents they stashed at the bottom.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Hux asked, astounded. 

“Packing. We have to go.” Kylo replied shortly, distracted enough not to even lift his gaze as he scanned the medical paperwork and copies of their birth certificates. “Go get the safe key.”

“I’m not getting anything. You need to calm down, we’re fine.”

“We aren’t. Just do it, Hux, there’s a plane boarding for California in three hours.”

Hux laughed derisively. “California? What are we doing in California?”

“Moving.” 

At that, Hux’s amusement ended. “What do you mean? We aren’t moving. You’re being insane, and I thought we were past the cryptic bullshit.”

“I don’t have time to explain.” Kylo got to from the floor with some effort, confirming Hux’s assumption that he had also had an episode at or near Philip’s hideout. “I’m getting the key, so put this on the front patio.” He gestured to the still-open suitcase. “We can get someone else to pack up the rest of the house and get it on a truck. We’ll have to leave the SUV here, take an Uber--”

“Kylo!” Hux snapped, and grabbed him by the arms. “What. The. Fuck. Phasma said she’d handle it! She isn’t the mob, we aren’t going to owe her repayment, we don’t even know if it will even become an issue! We aren’t leaving because I killed that monster. This isn’t at all like you!”

“She isn’t--” Kylo stopped, looking strangled. “She doesn’t, she can’t...trust me. Please, please trust me. You don’t understand.”

“Then explain it!”

“There’s no time!” Kylo roared. The room went quiet, so he continued. “It’s already been hours. They know.” 

Hux still had no idea why Kylo was acting this way. Kylo could shrug off a murder like it had called and scheduled an appointment. “If we run we will look guilty,” he said pragmatically. 

“Call the university and tell them my father died. He lived in California once. They’ll believe it and I can get paperwork later to prove it. He’s off the grid now so they’ll never know the difference. Even if they fire you, my business will keep us afloat. Working here was too risky, I should have known that.” Kylo’s words were stilted and flat, but his eyes burned intensely as he stared at Hux. “We have to go.”

Kylo was impossible when he had that fire. Impossible to handle, impossible to deny, impossible to reason with. The death-in-the-family idea could work. When a few days passed and Kylo calmed down, Hux would take them home. This had been his fault after all, he could deal with the consequences until the worst of it passed. 

“Fine.” Hux spat. He knew what had to happen, it didn’t mean he had to like it or be nice about it. “I’ll call the airline and get the tickets reserved. We’ll be lucky if they are even seats…” He bent down again, wincing and irritated, to get  _ his _ phone, juggling Kylo’s in his other hand. Kylo moved past him, presumably to the study to get the safe. While Hux dialed the airport (he had it saved as a contact now with all the traveling they had done in the past few years) he walked over to the bedside table, opening the drawer and pulling out the papers and medications there, dropping them all into the open suitcase. Kylo had already made a mess of it, he’d fix it later. They shouldn’t leave anything important behind, just in case by some nightmare scenario, they  _ couldn’t _ come back. 

The airport had several cancellations, so they were set. Hux was pulling the suitcase over the carpet, too tired still to lift it, while Kylo flitted around the house with a nervous energy that made it seem like he was perfectly fine in comparison. It was highly irritating. Hux took a deep breath, and got the suitcase to beside the door before giving up. He wasn’t going to lift the damn thing over the lip. Kylo walked over to him and dropped two very full backpacks next to the suitcase. At the moment they left his hand, Hux noticed the white bandages sloppily wrapped around his hand.

Hux took Kylo by the arm before he could move away. “What is this?” He asked, putting Kylo’s hand gently in his own. Blood was seeping through the bandage near his pinky.

“It’s nothing important. I’ll put a new bandage on while we’re on the way.”

Hux gave him a glare, tightening his grip. “That isn’t what I asked.”

Impatiently Kylo pulled the bandage back to show a puncture hole and deep bruising along the side of his hand. The hole was weeping, the beginnings of a scab having been pulled off by Kylo’s frantic usage of the hand. It didn’t seem very deep, but Hux had a sinking feeling while looking at it. 

“Did Philip do this?” He sounded unsure even to himself.

“No,” Kylo said tiredly, “you did. It’s fine.”

Fears confirmed, Hux palpated the hand gently and Kylo hissed in pain. The bruising was so bad. “It’s broken, isn’t it.” It wasn’t a question, not really, Hux knew a broken metacarpal when he saw it.

“Maybe, I dunno. It’s fine.”

“It isn’t. You need to make sure it’s set right, you need an X-ray.”

Kylo pulled his hand away. “Sure, once we get to California we can go to an urgent care. You need a blood test anyways.”

“A blood test?” Hux asked, but froze as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Flashes of memory: the blood spray, the gurgling scream. The current ache in his face. “I can’t believe I did that,” he whispered.

“I can,” Kylo said softly, “I knew you had it inside you. I don’t blame you at all.” He hesitated, then took Hux’s face in his hands. “I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.”

Somehow, Hux found him exceptionally endearing in that moment. Kylo’s face had smoothed out, staring at him in open wonder. He really believed it. He loved the monster inside Hux more than either of them could comprehend. Hux didn’t understand it, probably never would, but it made his heart swell to feel so unconditionally cared for. He leaned in, kissing Kylo. 

Kylo kissed back, seeming to lose himself for a second, but then pulled away. “No. Later. When we’re safe.” He walked away quickly, moving into the bathroom to get their toiletries.

Hux scoffed, speaking across the house. “We are going to have to make up a good excuse while we are on the flight for the urgent care center. They’ll think we were attacked by an animal and want to do an anti-rabies course.”

He could hear Kylo’s short laugh echoing off the tiles. “That wouldn’t end well. I’m pretty sure we’d die.”

“Most likely.”

They pulled together the last of their bags, and Hux held the keys to the SUV in his hand. “What are we doing with these then?”

About to respond, Kylo suddenly stiffened up as they heard a car door slam outside. 

“Kylo, what?” Hux said as Kylo pushed him away from in front of the door. “Are you scared of the neighbors coming home?”

He thought he had seen Kylo scared before, he thought that his reaction earlier had been intense, but it had nothing on what happened when he looked through the peephole. In an explosion of movement, he locked the door, threw the deadbolt and the chain, and shoved their heaviest suitcase in front of the door. He grabbed Hux’s shoulder so hard it hurt, and started pulling him towards the other end of the house. For a moment, he didn’t resist, mind swirling. What if it was the police? Could they have processed DNA evidence? An eyewitness statement? Were their lives about to end as they knew it?

He pulled his shoulder from Kylo’s death grip once they neared the back door. “I get it, Kylo, I’m coming,” he said quietly, and the relief in Kylo’s eyes was brief as the fear took over again. 

The back door had no glass or peephole, so Kylo yanked it open enough to look out and slammed it back shut. He locked it. “Fuck,” he spat, “no, no, this isn’t happening.”

“What isn’t--” Hux started to ask, when a very polite knock came on the front door. 

There was a beat of silence, and Kylo looked like a deer in the headlights. “Kylo? We know you’re there. Open the door, please.” The voice was feminine, but muffled and slightly distorted.

“Kylo?” Hux said, still whispering. “Who is that?”

Kylo wasn’t listening. Hux took his uninjured hand to find it trembling. They both jumped as the back door was knocked on as well.

“You have ten seconds to open the door, Kylo Ren.”

In those ten seconds, Hux’s mind was whirling in more confusion than he’d experienced since the rehab hospital. Anyone in public knew Kylo as Ben, as he’d decided to use his real name when they went public. Kylo had always been very cagey with the legality of his name and it’s use otherwise, as he still used an alias for everything they did, be it plane tickets, hotel rooms, reservations, practically anything. He avoided the cameras, simply followed Hux like a shadow. For all intents and purposes, no one called Ben ‘Kylo’ other than Hux.

Kylo had frozen, so Hux pulled him away from the door just in time, as a body crashed into it. The lock was a deadbolt, but the screws cracked out of the frame and it opened in a small spray of splinters. Hux shielded them, and retreated them further into the back room. 

The figure in the doorway, stepping across the threshold as if they owned the place, was swathed in black and grey. They were not exactly tall, but imposing in the breadth of their shoulders and the rigidity in their stance. Their right black boot was scuffed with paint from the door.

The front door also cracked open, the chain being pulled from the wall but the locks intact. Another figure in black, tall, with two handguns showing prominently in a shoulder holster. From what Hux could see across the house, it seemed like there were more people behind them.

This was all quite something, but not enough to yet put Hux over the edge into fear. He’d been through what was basically hell and survived, he’d seen some weird people (Kylo being one of the weirdest), and done terrible things. He didn’t ruffle easily. What did put him there were the masks on their faces. They were metallic and black in equal measure, each one unique from what he could tell, and totally obscured the people behind them. People he could handle. Whatever these were, well, that was another thing entirely.

Suddenly, Hux had a very good idea who they all were.

A smaller figure pushed past the person in the front doorway, coming into the house unabashed. “Kylo,” they said, and Hux recognized it as the same voice from before, “it’s been too long. Where have you been?”

Everyone kept a distance from the pair, as if they were easily-spooked animals. Maybe, for Kylo, that was true. He still hadn’t moved.

“Excuse me, this is my  _ house _ ,” Hux said loudly, straightening up, “and you are not welcome. Leave before I call the police.” It wasn’t really the most intimidating thing to say, at least not to the Ren Guard, but it was all he had. They didn’t even keep a firearm in the house, too assured in their own physical abilities. Hux had a small knife in his pocket for varied tasks, but that wouldn’t help them.

While they had been looking at the front door, two more people had slipped in the back. One of the snorted at Hux’s demand. “We aren’t here for you today  _ Braeden _ . So stay quiet.”

Of course they knew who he was, but hearing his given name on the voice of this robotic creature sent a shiver down his spine. 

“Kylo, have you done our work while you were...away?” The question came from the door-kicker.

Kylo’s eyes went to the ground.

“Kylo, we haven’t been able to find you. Surely that wasn’t on purpose?” This was asked by the other person behind the door-kicker, slightly hunched over and voice barely above a whisper.

“Kylo,” said one from behind the person blocking the front door. They moved momentarily to let them forward. “you’ve become quite a name, but it isn’t your name. What’s happened?”

Kylo shook his head, no words coming out for a moment. “I...got lost,” he muttered.

“ _ Lost? _ ” The door-kicker asked. It was becoming clear he was the leader, and his posture read male. “Lost. It certainly seems so. What did we train you for, I wonder, that you got lost for  _ seven years? _ ”

Hux blinked, looking at Kylo’s hair where it obscured his face. They’d only been together closing on three years, he’d been ‘inactive’, as he had called it, for four years longer than that? He owed Kylo an apology. If they had time for it.

"Shin…" Kyo mumbled, the door-kicker's name Hux assumed, but he was spoken over.

“Did you get lost with the Shining One?” Another one asked, and the pair’s head whipped around to see a toweringly tall, thin figure at the entrance to the living room. They hadn’t even seem them enter. They were quickly becoming surrounded by six black-robed figures, and Hux had no plan to handle it.

“Raven, no, we--” Kylo stuttered, and Hux wanted more than anything to hold him. To see the man he loved so utterly destroyed by even the presence of another, to feel so helpless, a hug wouldn’t suffice to convey how he felt, but it was a start. He needed to get them out of this, and now _. _

Hux didn’t understand the cryptic conversation that was being had, or inquisition as it felt like, and listened as Kylo continued.

“We were doing service,”

“You are no one’s dog but ours. You serve the Guard only,” said shoulder-holster.

“He doesn’t  _ serve  _ anyone!” Hux exclaimed, and pushed on Kylo to make him stand taller. “Kylo, Ben, tell them. Tell them you’re done.”

“Hux, you don’t,”

“Enough!” Barked the door-kicker, and in a sweep of black they grabbed Kylo by the shirt, hauled him backwards to the back door, and slammed him against the wall adjacent to it. “You have been off your leash long enough, boy, and you are coming home now.”

Kylo looked to be ready to protest, having a full view of Hux surrounded by the rest of the guard, but as he opened his mouth, his antagonist shoved a forearm against his throat, pressing him into the wall by his neck. Kylo coughed, able to breathe but just barely.

In that moment, Hux’s perspective of his lover changed. Until now, he had looked upon Kylo with a strange awe, a trepidation, like watching a caged animal and knowing it could open the cage door if it wanted. More recently, Hux had thought himself to be joining him there, but the space had always been Kylo’s. Kylo’s mannerisms, his control, his unshakeable belief, added him up in Hux’s eyes to be a strong and unyielding personality. But here he was, hanging from another person’s hold like a ragdoll, seemingly helpless. These people that were able to reduce Kylo to this…

He couldn’t take it, and he was a lot stronger than when he and Kylo had first met. He mustered that strength and ran for the figure, giving a sweeping kick to the knee that knocked the figure off balance just enough to release Kylo, who he grabbed and pulled away from the wall. Hux held him close, and pulled out the phone in his pocket with the other hand. It was Kylo’s, but that didn’t matter. Or maybe...it did.

“Everyone get the hell out! I’ll call the Malind Response Team and they will take down everyone here! I know none of you want that.” Hux thumbed the phone screen on, and slid the unlock bar without taking his eyes off the assembly. They had closed in with his attack. Their way out was still blocked, but maybe his bluff would pay off.

Kylo looked up at Hux, shocked by his behavior. Calling the team on himself? Hux looked back for a moment, and the desperation in his eyes told Kylo all he needed to know. They were both scared, injured, and shaking with post-trigger fatigue. They couldn’t go feral if they wanted to, it could kill them. They were outgunned in every way. Hux knew who they were, everyone in his house had Malind, and this was the only way he could think to save them both, even if it meant going to prison. Hux had no idea what the Ren Guard was capable of, but he didn’t need to know. He would sacrifice their life together to keep Kylo safe.

Hux had no intention of calling in response team. But making it seem like he would was crucial. He didn’t have time to dial, he knew that; these people were demons in human clothes, but he could press Redial. He brought the phone up to his face, making it look like he was about to dial, and they reacted.

Raven, the one near the living room, lashed out, practically faster than Hux could see, and slapped the phone out of his hand. It hit the carpet close to the bathroom entrance. The figure turned and punched Hux across the face. It hurt but the deep ache was surprising. He got another flash of his last trigger: his face, slammed against the floor. He hadn’t even had time to look in the mirror, but he would bet that it was bruised to high heaven. This fucker had just punched him in it.

He tried to retaliate, but while he was running on adrenaline now, his body wasn’t keeping up with the hormone. His responding punch was too slow, it was caught and the fist twisted back until he was sure it would crack. Hux dropped to his knees to relieve the burning pressure on his wrist.

“Hux!” Kylo exclaimed, distraught, and his arms started twitching.

“No!” Hux responded, sharp and loud. “Don’t you dare! You can’t beat them, they'll kill you!”

Kylo sucked in a sharp breath and swallowed it. Hux stared him in the eyes, begging him not to look at the phone, face down and nearly in the other room.

Instead, Kylo straightened up and looked Shin in the face. “I understand. I made a mistake. The Guard is where I belong, and I’ll come with you. Just let him go.”

Hux couldn't tell if he meant it.

“It seems suspicious that you would suddenly realize your mistake,” said the one who had first come knocking.

Kylo took a step towards her. “Pru, you must believe me. Surely you know this was all an experiment. I’ve gotten closer than ever to those who are trying to take the Gift away from us. Isn’t that what we all wanted? Isn’t that what you let me go for?”

“We never let you go. We let you  _ loose,” _ said shoulder-holster, but was cut off by Shin.

"Silence. You didn't do anything, Zita. If anything, you gave him the tools to run. You and E."

"Tch," said another, presumably E. "I thought he was a lost cause to begin with."

"Just take him and go!" Hux shouted. "Take Kylo with you. It's not as if you've given him a choice!"

The guard, still unnamed, who had been the quietest so far spoke up, still standing slightly out of the back doorway. "He isn't yours, he never was. No one leaves the Guard. That's just the way it is."

"God  _ help us _ if you are the future of Malind." Hux said, tone clear and precise.

"It certainly isn't you," Raven said, and pressed down with the hand clutching Hux's.

The wrist snapped, and Hux shouted in pain, automatically throwing himself back and down to pull his arm away. His back hit the floor and then his head, bouncing painfully off the carpet and concrete underneath. Stars swam in his vision, and the pain was immediate. Consuming. Worse than being shot, even. His heart rate went wild and it was everything he had not to let the monster take over. He could almost  _ feel _ the virus multiplying in his veins, the clouds across his vision going red and black with the effort to stay conscious.

"Look at him go," said Zita, sounding somewhat amused through the mask.

"Stop! Stop, let's go. He isn't worth the time! The police will be here soon anyways." Kylo said, sounding almost pleading to Hux's ears. But Hux didn't know what to think anymore. Thinking was hard enough in his state, let alone try to parse out if his partner had just turned on him or was bluffing for their lives. He wondered if his own bluff was going to pan out anytime soon. He clutched his arm to his chest and groaned, fighting the episode with every shred of his sanity.

He saw Shin's boots approach him and stop in front of his face. "I'm undecided. He's a threat. Maybe…we should handle it now, while the opportunity has presented itself."

So he was going to be killed then. There was nothing either of them could do about it. If Kylo even wanted to.

There was the sound of several sharp retorts, low and quick like air through a blowgun, and then a cry of surprise from Pru and Zita. Kylo spun around and dropped to the ground as three more projectiles came zipping through the air, expertly aimed at Shin, Raven, and E. Raven blocked the shot by throwing up his arm, it pinged off some metallic plate and flipped away. Shin dodged by simply stepping away from Hux, and the projectile became apparent as a tranquilizer dart as it embedded in the wall where his chest had been. E was hit squarely in the shoulder and he jerked with the force as it landed.

The quietest guard gave a yelp of surprise and twirled in place, a dart sticking out of her back from the open back doorway. Those hit began to stumble, the formula hitting them harder than it would if they had been feral, and Pru was the first to drop to the ground. Zita followed, behind her was an armor-clad figure holding a tranq gun. Her helmet was shining silver, just as was the rest of her. She spoke, clearly not addressing any of them. "Perimeter secured, hold for further orders. Back line, secure the vehicle."

Shin made to move, but her gun jerked to put him in sights again. "I would not do that. You are surrounded. Any further resistance will be responded to with  _ heavy _ prejudice."

"Chromia," Hux huffed, still trying to stay under control, "you made it. Good timing."

Her reply sounded wry. "Yeah, and you have to stop abusing my number."

Raven angled his helmet between Kylo, Hux, and the phone behind them. "It was a damn play." 

"You--" Shin started, taking a step towards Hux, and stopped violently when three darts hit him in rapid succession. After a few seconds he hit the floor.

"For good measure," said Phasma, and shot Raven twice. In moments the house was quiet but for Hux's labored breathing, all of the Ren Guard passed out on the floor. After a quick survey, Phasma made her way across the sea of black clothes to Hux, crouching down in her armor and barely making a sound. "Hey," she said, "I'm putting you out before you do yourself in. It's over."

"But Kylo," Hux said, unsure as to what he was going to say next.

"Will be fine. He'll be there when you wake up."

Before he could protest further or even see Kylo get up from the floor, Phasm shot him in the leg and the world went dark.

-

When Hux woke, he was in a hospital bed. He lifted his arm to rub at his eyes, and found two surprising things: one, he wasn't tied to the bed, and two, his right arm was in a cast, halfway from his elbow down to his fingers. 

He heard a shuffling, and turned his aching head to look next to him. There, visible by a partition left open by some forgetful caretaker or maybe a thoughtful friend, was dark hair spread across a crisp pillow. Kylo was in the bed next to his, similarly unrestrained, asleep.

The air conditioning unit in their already frigid room kicked on, and Kylo sniffled awake. He looked over to Hux as if he knew he was being watched.

"I didn't get to tell you earlier," Kylo said roughly, "but you look beautiful when you're feral."

Hux huffed a laugh. "Yes you did, you idiot. How long have we been asleep?"

"Days," Kylo replied, "but I woke up a few times. Phasma says that it's all taken care of, but now we owe her."

"Christ, what a nightmare. And the Guard?"

"She wouldn't specify. But I think they aren't coming back. Apparently she found them disgusting."

"Them?" Hux asked tentatively, worried over the response.

Kylo pulled his eyebrows in. "Yeah, them. Obviously. You didn't...you didn't think I meant it. Did you? I told you, back at the clinic. I told you I would stay with you, that I would leave the guard behind. I always meant that. You didn't want me to go, did you?"

"Yeah...yeah you did. And of course I didn't." Hux said quietly. That felt so long ago now, but Kylo had said he would give it all up for Hux, and so far he had. Apparently they had both been part of the play, and had tricked each other. But it had paid off. "Kylo, I'm sorry."

"Why?" Kylo asked, sounding genuinely puzzled.

"With how you reacted to them. I didn't know, I mean I  _ don't _ know still, but clearly they weren't...you never talked about it, so I didn't know. I'm sorry."

Kylo paused. "Oh. Don't think about it too hard. It's past. I made my choices, and I lived with my decisions. Maybe we can talk about it sometime. Just not now. I didn't think they'd ever find me again, so I didn't say anything. I didn't think it was important."

"It's fine. We lived." Hux said, not quite ready to focus on that topic yet. If he had any say in it, they would certainly talk about it later, and Hux would make sure the guard was dead. But for now it could wait.

"Kylo, we find ourselves wonderfully unrestrained. Would you mind coming over here?"

Slowly, but with far more control and strength than Hux currently possessed, Kylo rolled out of his bed and into Hux's, careful of the casted arm and his own rebandaged hand. He gently placed the cast over his side, and Hux cuddled into the hollow of his neck. The skin of his neck was fading from what had probably been spectacular bruises, now only an ugly brown-green-yellow in wide splotches. Hux kissed Kylo's neck gently, and Kylo hummed.

They stayed like that, falling asleep again. When Hux woke up later, Kylo was still there.

  
  


The End (for real this time)

**Author's Note:**

> (Notes: the most quiet guard is Levine, I just didnt find an organic way to use her name)
> 
> Thank you to anyone who came back to read this hot mess fic in this disaster of a series. I've been trying to finish this damn fic for over a year so I could finally move on. The second half is un-beta'd and didn't get an author's reread but I'm very tired and while I love my feral children with all my heart I need to be done now. Until the next story, friends.


End file.
